i thought about going to a trump event nearby for the freak show and spectacle of it all there are videos of his followers outside the events and the counterprotestors that come with all these events and its like those people in new mexico or nevada putting on sunglasses to watch a nuclear bomb test out in the desert.

same here, i'd go to a trump rally for the same reasons if one was close by. although i'd probably find it to be initially amusing and then really depressing.

Trump is bringing out people who had been skipping previous elections and rarely participated in the Republican Primary. He has mastered social media and its becoming clear that ruthlessly attacking unpopular things is not hurting him in this contest. His different profile of voters is turning the map upside down, and many are supporting him after thinking hard about the other Republican candidates before deciding on Trump.

trump's mastery of twitter enables him to bypass the traditional media filter, and he gets tons of free press coverage on almost every tweet. not sure anyone else who's not a major celebrity would be able to run a campaign like that.

it really is incredible, he not only says outlandish things (he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th avenue and not lose voters, he wants to punch a protester in the face, etc.) but also some that are the opposite from republican orthodoxy. he's running as a republican, but he and his followers have transcended the party, much to the horror of the establishment GOP.

a lot of people are just sick of corrupt politicians in both parties, special interest groups who donate to and control the pols and a broken political system (also the reason bernie sanders has done so well). many of them feel we don't have anything to lose by electing someone like trump and potentially blowing things up, since the situation is so shit now.

i suppose a trump nomination would result a clinton presidency, but man would that be a dirty fight until the november election.

Nationally, the YouGov data show a similar trend: Nearly 20 percent of Mr. Trumpís voters disagreed with the freeing of slaves in Southern states after the Civil War. Only 5 percent of Mr. Rubioís voters share this view.

A gotcha question at the end of a telephone poll where respondents are asked if they agree with "emancipation". Its like asking kids if women's suffrage needs to be abolished, they always say yes.

But back to Trump, the stuff he is tapping into has always been there. Its just nobody has gone after it on a nationwide scale since maybe Reagan in 80 or Nixon earlier. Cruz thought he was replicating Reagan with is far right positioning and playing games with the party and the media. But all the "conservative principles" he spent months arguing about with Rubio and Bush turned out to be not so popular in the end.